Falling Leaves
by rowanrawr
Summary: A small drabble from the beginning of book three.


I've been doing so much studying recently. Reading up on poets and pouring over poems. Trying to figure out a plan for coursework. Learning terms and words I've never even heard of before. College is _difficult_.

Strangely enough, though, all of that intense work has inspired me to write something.

* * *

Liz Carr breathed deeply, inhaling the scent of hot coffee and sizzling bacon. She watched the brisk wind stir up the dead leaves, swirling them around in the fading light of the blustery autumnal afternoon, through the kitchen window.

The large hearth had already warmed the house significantly, yet Liz still stood with her vampire lover's thick jumper wrapped tight around her. She sighed, perfectly content, and set about frying up some eggs. Gavner had a huge appetite, but Liz reckoned that this evening her own hunger could rival his. She was practically ravenous after having spent most of the day awake and quite _active_. She grinned to herself, one foot on the bottom of the stairs to go and wake Gavner, when she registered that there was a knocking coming from the front door.

Liz was by now so used to Gavner's animal snores that they were simply background noise. A glance out of the window told her that it was too bright for anyone dangerous to be outside (she remember well the tales of vampaneze), and she certainly wasn't expecting any of her human friends. On the way to the door she turned down the heat on the cooker and took the kettle off of the stove, not wanting her breakfast to be ruined by unexpected guests.

Her house was out in the countryside (or out in the 'sticks', as Gavner referred to it), with only one house visible from her front garden, a few minutes walk up the dirt track that served as the 'main road' that connected her remote neighbours and herself to the town that lay beyond the fields and hills. Liz loved the remoteness of her little cottage, and loved the privacy that came with it; perfect for keeping up a somewhat dysfunctional relationship with a creature of the night.

The bolt slid away with the usual amount of effort, and Liz had to catch the door before it slammed into the wall from the force of the wind outside. A few golden leaves fluttered through the door and into the kitchen beyond and Liz followed them with her eyes before focusing on the person in the doorway.

The woman was, Liz guessed, a vampire. She had only met one vampire (and he was still snoring like a bear in her bed upstairs) but something about woman's general appearance made her stand out as something other than human. She had a hood pulled down over her eyes, but the wind had managed to pull loose a few strands of black hair. Her clothes were ripped, her boots covered in mud and, Liz noticed with a start, some other substance that resembled dried blood. Looking closer, Liz saw she was holding herself as if in pain, one arm wrapped around her waist with a hand clamped down over her hip, the other hanging limply by her side, one foot slightly raised above the ground, a large smear of blood staining the skin of her neck and the fabric of the shirt on her shoulder, just visible beneath the coat.

Without hesitation, Liz carefully put an arm around the injured vampire and helped her across the threshold. It never even entered her mind that this unfamiliar woman could be a threat. There was a notable absence of purple skin and red hair that Liz knew marked a vampaneze. She could only assume that Gavner must know this vampire, or why else would she have been so bold about knocking on the door and making her presence known?

Liz pulled a chair out from under the table with her foot and carefully lowered the vampire into it, not missing the hiss of pain that escaped from beneath the hood. Kneeling on the floor next to the chair, Liz bent her head and gently laid a hand on the woman's least injured looking leg. "My name is Liz Carr. I'm going to help patch you up, okay?" she said calmly, her nursing instincts kicking in. She pushed back the hood and couldn't help but gasp. A large slash ran across her right temple, ending dangerously close to her eye, which was also bloodshot, the grey rimmed with red. Another cut defined her jawline, spiking down to her neck and collar bone.

Liz tried to swallow the panic she felt rising in her chest and stood quickly, mind racing for the things she would need to heal this woman. In an effort to offer some comfort, she said, "Gavner is here, upstairs."

Amazingly, the woman chuckled painfully, "I know," her voice was raw, "I can hear him."

Liz looked down at the woman, a little shocked that she had managed to _laugh_ when so badly injured, becoming even more openly stunned when the woman gave her a crooked grin, "I'm Arra, a friend of Gavner's. Sorry if I'm interrupting anything."

With a bark of laughter, Liz shook her head, "You're not. I'll go and fetch my first aid kit, won't be a minute."

Taking the stairs two at a time, and shouting Gavner's name all the way, Liz swung into the into the bathroom, threw open the cabinet and grabbed the small green box that served as her home-made, vampire-tailored first aid kit. Next, she dashed into the bedroom and took a hold of her lover's arm roughly, shaking him forcefully. "Gavner!" she all but shouted in his ear, "Wake up!"

Gavner mumbled something unintelligible and rolled away from her. Liz rolled her eyes and tried again, "Gav! You need to wake up, _now_! Your friend is downstairs, seriously _injured_!"

This seemed to work, as the large vampire sat up with a groan, rubbing a hand over his eyes, "Which friend?" he asked sleepily.

Liz was already at the door. "She said her name was Arra," she threw over her shoulder, and went back down the stairs to the kitchen. Behind her, she heard Gavner curse and flop out of bed.

Arra hadn't moved. Even her grin was still in place, as she quietly watched Liz dump a pile of towels and clothes onto the table in front of her. "Gavner's coming," Liz unnecessarily informed her, "I'll clean and bandage your wounds, and then you can have some of my clothes. They might be a bit big, but yours are practically rags, so they'll have to go. Sorry," she finished, glancing down at the vampire in front of her with a shrug.

Arra opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off as Gavner bounded down the stairs with an almighty racket, buttoning up his shirt as he came. He levelled Arra with a unimpressed stare and casually took a seat at the table next to her. "I can't leave you alone for five minutes, can I?" he commented lightly, studying his friend with badly hidden concern. "Who did you piss off this time?"

Liz cleared her throat, shocked at her partner's lack of urgency. "Can we leave the small talk for later? Surely we have more important things to be doing right now!"

She ignored the wink Gavner passed to Arra, and set about removing the female vampire's coat and boots, being careful not to irritate any of her wounds. She started on her foot, noting the fracture in her ankle and set Gavner the task of cleaning and bandaging the wound on her forehead, hoping that would distract her attention just enough for Liz to deal with the broken bone.

"You're a freaking mess, mate," Gavner laughed after a moment of silence. He carefully dabbed at the slash on Arra's head with a towel, slightly worried at how quickly the towel was changing from white to red, but determined not to show it. He had seen his friend in much worse shape than this, though it had been many years ago and entirely expected, as she went through the Trials for a third ridiculous time.

He held the towel to her head with one hand, deciding that being gentle was getting him no where, and used his other hand and another towel to clean the cut along her jawline, feeling her jaw clench as Liz tightly bandaged her ankle to keep the bone in place.

"Where were you when this happened?" Liz asked, moving onto the vampire's arm, "Did you have to come far?"

Arra shook her head, "I was in the town, nearby." Liz nodded, but silently marvelled at the distance she had travelled with a broken ankle and various other injuries. It wasn't just Gavner that was stubborn when it came to being hurt, she thought as it became clear that perhaps all vampires were like this.

"Lucky you were so close," Gavner added, "Liz here is a nurse, so you're in good hands."

"Though I'd hardly say my speciality was treating vampires," Liz smiled, "Asides from Gavner, you're the only other one I've ever met." Gavner had told her about his friends back at the mountain that vampires resided in. Now she thought about it, he had mentioned Arra before, and had paired her with someone called Larten Crepsley. She remembered him saying that they were his two closest friends, and remembered how she had teased him for talking about them like a child proudly and excitedly telling his mother all about his two best friends and the adventures they had together.

"I'm sorry for dropping by like this, then," Arra muttered, wincing slightly at the cream that was being applied to her wounds, "I was just passing through. I thought about coming to see you, but didn't want to get in the way."

"Don't be stupid!" Gavner laughed, "You wouldn't have got in the way! If I had known you were so close I would have gone to fetch you." Liz watched him finish cleaning the wound on her neck and jaw and inspect it closely, his now free hand absently taking a hold of hers. Liz watched his display of tenderness with a smile. She supposed she could have felt jealous or shunned, but she wasn't the type, and certainly wasn't inclined to feel that way when she knew that this unfamiliar vampire and her love were simply close friends. They had known each other long before she was even born, after all.

"Where were you going?" Liz asked, wrapping her cut hands in even more bandages.

Arra sighed, and Liz didn't miss the way she glanced at Gavner, "I was going to see Larten."

Gavner looked at her sharply with a brow raised, "That's... new. Why were you going to see him?" Liz didn't ask why this was so strange. There was something she was missing, clearly, but knew when to stay out of the way. The two of them obviously had something to discuss, and Gavner would fill her in later anyway.

"You remember him telling us about that vampaneze, Murlough?" Arra answered slowly, waiting for Gavner to nod in acknowledgement before continuing, "He's on the map again, suddenly. I heard about it and was just going to let Larten know about his movements."

Liz listened carefully, but busied herself with bandaging Arra's shoulder. The mention of vampaneze had piqued her interest and made her stomach churn with worry. Gavner had told her all sorts of tales about the purple-skinned killers, and had made sure she understood what to do if one ever came to her home. It was a possibility, after all, as vampaneze liked to prey on the humans that vampires held close.

"I was going to offer to help," Arra was saying, watching Liz out of the corner of her eye, "You know he'd just run into it head first if there wasn't anyone to stop him."

Gavner nodded with a slight laugh, "Too right. He's got that assistant of his now though, as well. Maybe the kid would help him?"

Arra tried to shrug but was stopped by Liz's hands. "But he's just a child, isn't he? I don't think he'd be much use against a mad vampaneze."

The two vampires fell into silence, but Liz carried on with her work, moving to deal with the still bleeding wound on Arra's temple. The thought of stitching it up crossed her mind, but she pushed it away, knowing it would be too difficult and messy. She settled for covering the largest part of the cut in gauze and wrapping a bandage around her head to keep it in place. "There," Liz said with a reassuring smile, "all done. I'll take a look at your hip later on, it'll be easier to treat when you're lying down."

Arra gave her a grateful smile and carefully relaxed back in her chair, "Thank you." Liz shook her head as a sign that it was no problem at all, and left the two vampires alone at the table. Her stomach was growling hungrily, and she suddenly remembered the bacon and eggs she had left on the stove.

"I'll leave tomorrow night, so I don't fall too behind the Cirque," Liz heard Arra say quietly. She thought about butting in and telling the vampire there was no chance of her going anyway in the state she was in, but Gavner did the job for her.

"You can't, you're too beat up," Gavner reprimanded gently with a sigh.

"But Larten needs to-"

"I know," Gavner cut her off, and Liz saw him run a hand over his eyes, "I know he needs to know. He _deserves _to know." His brown eyes met Liz's blues and she knew exactly what he was going to say before the words had even come out of his mouth. "I'll go and tell him. You stay here where Liz can keep an eye on you."

Liz understood that her lover had to do this. The situation was something above and beyond her, but that was okay. If Gavner needed to warn his friend then she certainly wasn't going to stand in the way. There was just one thing that worried her. With her back to the two vampires, and her shaking hands busy with flipping the bacon, she quietly ventured, "Is it safe for you to go? I mean, if Arra was attacked only in town..."

It was Arra who answered, "I killed them all, don't worry. They just managed to land a few good hits first." Liz turned to look at her, and Arra gave her a smile. It only eased her worry a little, but that was enough.

Gavner watched the exchange with a smile. His eyes were on his lover, full of warmth, proud that she understood what he needed to do and that she wasn't going to stand in the way. His hand was still covering Arra's on the table, and he gave it a gentle squeeze of reassurance.

Liz smiled back at Arra and then raised an eyebrow at her lover, "You can go. But you have to stay for breakfast. I don't want you leaving on an empty stomach." While both of the vampires laughed, Liz turned back to cooking the food with a grin. She felt hands on her waist a moment later and turned again into Gavner's embrace.

She smiled against his shoulder and briefly met Arra's eye. The vampire was watching them with a strangely sad expression on her face, almost with a look of longing, but smiled softly when she caught Liz's eye. And then winked at her with a grin, motioning for her to turn around. Liz just caught Gavner's hand before he snatched up a rasher of bacon, and pushed him away with a playful shove.


End file.
